On Feb. 3, a Norfolk Southern 38-car freight train derailed in the vicinity of East Palestine, Ohio, a municipality of about 5,000 people. Though there were no fatalities or reported injuries in the derailment, the freight cars had been carrying chemicals that were agitated by the accident.
Capitalizing on this opening, former President Donald Trump visited and made remarks in East Palestine on Feb. 22. Trump charged that the administration’s alleged inaction thus far had amounted to a “betrayal” and urged Biden to “get over here.” He also brought clean water to donate and bought lunch at McDonald’s for local workers.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which regulates railroads, issued its preliminary report on Feb. 23 to try to get at what actually happened that led to the derailment. To avoid that possible explosion and the damage it could cause, “responders scheduled a controlled venting of the five vinyl chloride tank cars to release and burn the vinyl chloride.” They also widened “the evacuation zone to a 1-mile by 2-mile area, and dug ditches to contain released vinyl chloride liquid while it vaporized and burned. The controlled venting began about 4:40 p.m. on February 6 and continued for several hours.
The Environmental Protection Agency has also weighed in, saying measurements show the air in East Palestine currently is safe to breathe and that the well water is safe to drink. No method of transportation is foolproof. Trucks and cars crash. Boats lose cargo and sink. Pipelines spring leaks and fall victim to geopolitical struggles. Planes fall out of the sky.
I dunno, seems to me the PR would be significantly better if they started to improve safety and be loud advocates for it.